Fiber for artificial hair with antibacterial and antifungal properties and methods of preparing the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are fibers for the manufacture of artificial hair with a core/sheath structure which include antibacterial and antifungal nanoparticles in the sheath structure, thus providing antibacterial and antifungal properties which can last for a considerable period of time. The sheath structure of the fibers is formed to take about 20 to about 30% of the diameter of the fibers so that the fibers can retain desirable antibacterial and antifungal effects, thereby resolving problems of truncation of the fibers due to an increase of pressure in a spinning machine during a spinning process.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 2011-0119684, filed on Nov. 16, 2011, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a fiber for artificial hair withantibacterial and antifungal properties and methods of preparing thesame. In particular, the fiber for artificial hair of the presentinvention has a sheath/core composite structure.

2. Discussion of Related Art

With an improvement in living standards, it has become more popular forpeople to wear artificial hair for styling purposes. Artificial hair,being either implanted onto the scalp or pressed down and worn thereon,is susceptible to environmental contamination from dust and impuritiesdue to sweat and heat generated by the human body or contamination frombacteria, mold, etc., which can have a harmful effect on the hygiene andhealth of the user. Therefore, it is essential that artificial hair bemanufactured to have antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Recently, in the midst of introduction of various antibacterial hairmaterials, fibers for artificial hair having antibacterial andantifungal properties (Korean Patent Application Publication No.10-2007-0050147) have been developed and manufactured.

However, these artificial hair fibers formed of antibacterial materialshave a few disadvantages. First, the artificial hair fibers have not hada sufficient duration of antibacterial and antifungal properties whichsoon diminished rapidly from the fibers after a few rinses. In addition,the level of antibacterial and antifungal properties has not beenuniformly retained in each set of artificial hair but differedconsiderably from hair to hair thus showing no antibacterial andantifungal effect at all in some extreme cases.

Further, antibacterial material generally includes an inorganicsubstance which may be accumulated inside a spinning machine, therebyincreasing the pressure therein, and it often causes truncation of thefibers.

Therefore, there has been a long felt need for the development of afiber for artificial hair which can keep long-lasting antibacterial andantifungal properties therein. Also, it is important to prevent problemssuch as truncation of fibers during spinning of the fibers due toantibacterial and antifungal components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a fiber for artificial hair withantibacterial and antifungal properties which can be uniformly retainedtherein and also last for a considerable period of time.

Also, the present invention is directed to a method of manufacturing afiber for artificial hair which can resolve existing problems which mayoccur during the use of a spinning machine using materials with anantibacterial property.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided afiber for artificial hair including: a core structure spun from at leastone resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester,polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile, and a sheathstructure formed of a composition to encompass the surface of the corestructure, wherein the composition includes at least one resin selectedfrom the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride,polyamide and polyacrylonitrile, and 0.05 to 5.0 parts by weight ofnanoparticles, the surface of which is protected by sulfur compounds,with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin.

In an exemplary embodiment, the nanoparticles may be manufactured byreduction of metal compounds in the presence of sulfur compounds.

In another exemplary embodiment, the nanoparticles are in the form ofreductive precipitation on the matrix of at least one resin selectedfrom the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride,polyamide and polyacrylonitrile.

In a further exemplary embodiment, the sheath structure is formed in therange of about 10% to about 60% of the diameter of the fiber.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of manufacturing fibers for artificial hair including: addingat least one resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin,polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile as a corecomponent, and 0.05 to 5.0 parts by weight of nanoparticles with respectto 100 parts by weight of the resin of the core component or other kindof resin as a sheath component into a composite spinning machine; andmelt-spinning at 200-290° C. and cooling the resultant composition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a structural drawing of a fiber for artificial hair accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While thepresent invention is shown and described in connection with exemplaryembodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat various modifications can be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

The present invention relates to a fiber for artificial hair with asheath/core type structure manufactured by incorporating nanoparticleshaving antibacterial and antifungal effects.

The above nanoparticles are metal nanoparticles whose surfaces areprotected by sulfur compounds. These nanoparticles can be manufacturedby reduction of metal compounds in the presence of sulfur compounds.

In an exemplary embodiment, the nanoparticles to be used may be preparedby reducing zinc compounds such as zinc chloride, zinc nitrate, zincacetate, zinc sulfate and zinc hydroxide in the presence of sulfurcompounds such as mercaptoacetic acid, mercaptopropionic acid,thiodipropionic acid, mercaptosuccinic acid, mercaptoethanol,thiodiethylene glycol, aminoethyl mercaptan, thiodiethyl amine,thiourethaene, thiocarbonic acid, thiourea, thiophenol, thioformamide,methyl mercaptan, isopropyl mercaptan, n-butyl mercaptan, allylmercaptan, benzyl mercaptan, and salts and derivatives thereof.

Reducing agents to be used in the above reduction may include alkanolamines such as monoalkanol amine, dialkanol amine, and trialkanol amine;ethylene triamine, m-hexylamine, tetramethylene diamine, pentamethylenediamine, hexamethylene diamine, heptamethylene diamine, dimethylamine,triethanol amine, hydroxylamine sulfate, EDTA salt, ethylenediamine,diethyltriamine, triethylenetetramine, tetraethylenepentamine, andpentaethylenehexamine.

The surfaces of metal particles of the above nanoparticles arecompletely protected by sulfur compounds and therefore the incorporationof the nanoparticles into the sheath structure of the fibers forartificial hair can provide excellent antibacterial and antifungaleffects.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the nanoparticleswith antibacterial and antifungal properties may be prepared by reducingcolloidal metal particles in the presence of sulfur compounds. However,the nanoparticles to be used in the present invention are not limitedthereto, but can include anything as long as their surfaces are coatedwith sulfur compounds.

In particular, the nanoparticles incorporated in the sheath structure ofthe fibers for artificial hair of the present invention remain in theform of reductive precipitation on the matrix of at least one resinselected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinylchloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile. That is, they aremanufactured by mixing and stirring the nanoparticles added during themaster batch process of the resin.

The nanoparticles incorporated into the master batch of the resin arediffused and transported to be released onto the surface of the resin,thereby being exposed to an environment to contact with bacteria andfungi. Accordingly, the artificial hair fiber prepared according to thepresent invention is provided with excellent antibacterial andantifungal activities and also with a long lasting effect.

As shown in FIG. 1, the artificial hair fiber prepared according to thepresent invention is prepared by a core structure spun from at least oneresin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester,polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile, and a sheathstructure to encompass the surface of the core structure, wherein thesheath structure is formed of a resin composition including thenanoparticles. In an embodiment of the present invention, the resin tobe used in forming the sheath and core structures of the fiber forartificial hair may be the same as or different from each other.

In the present invention, a conventional composite spinning process isemployed for the manufacture of fibers with a sheath/core structure. Forthe composite spinning, the resin with a sheath structure and that witha core structure are respectively added into a composite spinningmachine and then subjected to melt-spinning, thereby manufacturing thefibers with the sheath/core structure. In the present invention, thecore structure is spun using a conventional type of resin used forartificial hair, and nanoparticles with antibacterial and antifungalproperties are incorporated only into the sheath structure, which is toencompass the core structure, thereby exhibiting excellent antibacterialand antifungal properties. The nanoparticles used are relatively small,being in the range of 0.05 to 5.0 parts by weight with respect to 100parts by weight of resin used for forming the sheath structure.Therefore, it can prevent truncation of fibers often caused by anincrease in the pressure of the spinning machine due to a large amountof antibacterial and antifungal components during a spinning process.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the sheathstructure in the sheath/core structure of the fiber is formed to takeabout 10 to about 60% of the fiber diameter, preferably about 20 toabout 30%. The nanoparticles of the present invention are provided witha protective film of sulfur compounds on their surface and thus can haveexcellent antibacterial and antifungal properties. Further, theseantibacterial and antifungal properties can last a sufficiently longperiod of time showing superiority over the conventional ones.Therefore, in even a sheath structure which thinly covers the surface ofthe core structure, a sufficient antibacterial and antifungal effect canbe provided.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the fibers forartificial hair may be manufactured by adding at least one resinselected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinylchloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile as a core component, and 0.05to 5.0 parts by weight of nanoparticles with respect to 100 parts byweight of the resin of the core component or other kind of resin as asheath component into a composite spinning machine; and melt-spinning at200 to 290° C. and cooling the resultant composition. The strength andelongation of thus obtained fibers can be improved by a selectivedrawing process. The drawing process may include heat drawing or steamdrawing depending on the kind of resin used.

After the drawing process, the fibers can go through heat treatment tofinally obtain the desirable fibers for artificial hair.

The present invention will be described in further detail through thefollowing Examples but is not limited thereto.

Example 1

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin with an intrinsic viscosity of0.64 was dried and melted at 280° C. using a conventional meltingextruder and spun via a spinneret. Here, a sheath part and a core partof the fibers were formed using two melting extruders via a sheath/corecomposite spinning method which enables the respective sheath and coreparts to be formed. After completion of fiber formation, a dischargerate was determined so that the ratio of diameter of the sheath part andthe core part became 3:7. Further, for the PET resin, 0.5 wt % of zincsulfide antibacterial agent (AIZN Co., Ltd., Korea) was added to thesheath part of the resin. The fibers spun in the form of sheath/coretype underwent the conventional elongation and heat treatment processesand then rolled up as fibers for artificial hair. Physical propertiessuch as strength and elongation of the manufactured fibers were measuredand their antibacterial properties were also measured after making theminto circular knit fabric. Workability of the fibers was evaluated overa long period of spinning work.

Example 2

Spinning was performed at 230° C. using the same melt extruder as inExample 1 and using PET resin (Dae Han Chemical Co., Ltd., Korea).Sheath/core composite spinning was performed the same as in Example 1,wherein 0.05 wt % of zinc sulfide antibacterial agent (AIZN Co., Ltd.,Korea) was added to the sheath part of the resin, and the ratio ofdiameter of the sheath part and the core part was set at 2:8. Afterspinning and elongation, the resultant composition was manufactured intofibers with suitable fineness for the use of artificial hair. Physicalproperties such as strength and elongation of the thus manufacturedfibers were measured and their antibacterial properties were alsomeasured after making them into circular knit fabric. Workability of thefibers was evaluated over a long period of spinning work.

Comparative Example 1

PET resin with an intrinsic viscosity of 0.64 was dried and melted at280° C. using a conventional melting extruder and spun via a spinneret.0.5 wt % of zinc sulfide antibacterial agent (AIZN Co., Ltd., Korea) wasadded to the PET resin with respect to the total amount of resin. Thefibers spun in the form of sheath/core type underwent the conventionalelongation and heat treatment processes and then rolled up as fibers forartificial hair. Physical properties such as strength and elongation ofthe thus manufactured fibers were measured and their antibacterialproperties were also measured after making them into circular knitfabric. Workability of the fibers was evaluated over a long period ofspinning work.

Comparative Example 2

PET resin with an intrinsic viscosity of 0.64 was dried and melted at280° C. using a conventional melting extruder and spun via a spinneret.0.01 wt % of zinc sulfide antibacterial agent (AIZN Co., Ltd., Korea)was added to the PET resin with respect to the total amount of resin.The fibers spun in the form of sheath/core type underwent theconventional elongation and heat treatment processes and then rolled upas fibers for artificial hair. Physical properties such as strength andelongation of the thus manufactured fibers were measured and theirantibacterial properties were also measured after making them intocircular knit fabric. Workability of the fibers was evaluated over along period of spinning work.

Comparative Example 3

Commercialized polypropylene fiber for artificial hair (Selim Fiber Co.,Ltd., Korea) was used for the purpose of comparison.

Comparative Example 4

Commercial PET for artificial hair (anonymous artificial hair fibermanufacturing company, Korea) was used for the purpose of comparison.

Physical properties such as fineness, strength, elongation, antibiosisand workability of the above fibers in Examples and Comparative Exampleswere measured.

Measurement of Physical Properties and their Evaluation

<Fineness, Strength, Elongation>

Fineness, strength, and elongation were measured according to KSStandard and evaluated therefrom.

<Workability>

Workability of fibers was evaluated by measuring the number oftruncation based on 24 hour on-site production.

Excellent (⊚): less than 3 times

Average (◯): 3-10 times

Poor (X): 11 times or more

<Antibacterial Properties>

Antibacterial properties were evaluated for the fibers obtained in theabove Examples and Comparative Examples according to JIS L 1902 withreference to E. coli ATCC 8739. The bacterial culture for test wasplaced under stationary culture for 24 hrs at 35±1° C. and RH 90±5% andthen its antibacterial rate was calculated based on the bacterial count.

The results are shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Comp. Comp. Comp. Comp. Category Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 3Ex. 4 Fineness (de) 52 58 54 55 60 62 Strength (g/d) 4.5 4.2 4.5 3.9 4.33.8 Elongation (%) 34 38 38 42 39 43 Workability ⊚ ⊚ X Δ — —Antibacterial 99.9 99.9 93.5 73.6 23.4 32.6 Rate (%)

From the above Table, it was confirmed that the fibers for artificialhair of the present invention exhibited superiority in workability andantibacterial properties to those in the Comparative Examples whileshowing similar physical properties to those in the Comparative Examplesin terms of fineness, strength, and elongation.

In particular, the fibers of the present invention showed a considerableimprovement in workability over those in Comparative Examples 1 and 2,where the entire fibers included the antibacterial component. Inaddition, between the fibers in Example 1 and those in ComparativeExample 1, where the antibacterial component was added at an equal rate,the antibacterial rate was higher in Example 1 than that in ComparativeExample 1. From the foregoing, it can be concluded that theantibacterial properties depend on the components of the fiber surface.Accordingly, it is apparent that the present invention providesartificial hair fibers with an excellent antibacterial effect and withimproved workability by spinning excellent antibacterial and antifungalcomponents onto the surface of fibers.

As described above, the present invention provides a fiber forartificial hair with superior antibacterial and antifungal propertieswith lasting effects by incorporating nanoparticles having antibacterialand antifungal effects.

Further, the present invention can resolve the problems existing in theconventional fibers such as truncation of fibers due to an increase inpressure within a spinning machine by minimizing the amount of the abovefunctional components during spinning of fibers with antibacterial andantifungal components.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications can be made to the above-described exemplary embodimentsof the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention coversall such modifications provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fiber for artificial hair comprising: a corestructure spun from at least one resin selected from the groupconsisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide andpolyacrylonitrile, and a sheath structure formed of a composition toencompass the surface of the core structure, wherein the compositioncomprises at least one resin selected from the group consisting ofpolyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide andpolyacrylonitrile, and 0.05 to 5.0 parts by weight of nanoparticles, thesurface of which is protected by sulfur compounds, with respect to 100parts by weight of the resin.
 2. The fiber for artificial hair of claim1, wherein the nanoparticles are manufactured in the presence of sulfurcompounds by reducing metal compounds.
 3. The fiber for artificial hairof claim 1, wherein the nanoparticles are in a form of reductiveprecipitation on a matrix of at least one resin selected from the groupconsisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide andpolyacrylonitrile.
 4. The fiber for artificial hair of claim 1, whereinthe sheath structure is formed in a range of about 10% to about 60% of adiameter of the fiber.
 5. A method of manufacturing fibers forartificial hair, comprising: adding at least one resin selected from thegroup consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamideand polyacrylonitrile as a core component, and 0.05 to 5.0 parts byweight of nanoparticles with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resinof the core component or other kind of resin as a sheath component intoa composite spinning machine; and melt-spinning at 200 to 290° C. andcooling the resultant composition.